Fragile - An Archangel Academy Fanfiction
by thepuppynews
Summary: I loved reading the 'Archangel Academy' series by Michael Griffo. I was really sad when I finished it; I didn't want the story to end. So, I decided to write a fanfiction on it :)
1. Chapter 1

Ciaran stumbled back into the laboratory. He was utterly ashamed of himself. How could he be so stupid? How could he have allowed himself to be manipulated all this time? He knew David was evil, yet he had let David use his loneliness, use his desire to be accepted, use his insecure, naïve, innate search for approval as a means of taking advantage of him. No, he wouldn't allow this to continue any longer. Overhearing the argument between David and Morgandy just a few minutes ago was the catalyst for his sudden revelation; his epiphany. He had finally realised the true extent of his actions; that David was using him to destroy his own family. Well, not any more. Ciaran had irrevocably broken free from David's hold over him – he just had to hope that it wasn't too late.

"Hey, what are you doing?" a familiar voice asked. Ciaran could recognise that high pitched, bubbly tone even if it was a kilometre away.

"Saorise?!" Ciaran replied, startled, his stream of thought interrupted. "You know, you shouldn't sneak up on me like that!"

Saorise bounded towards Ciaran. "But I wanted to see you, Ciar!"she exclaimed energetically as she gave her brother a hug.

"Still, you could have given me a heart attack, and I could have died. I'm only human, remember?" Ciaran said pessimistically, with a trace of bitter jealousy.

"Lighten up won't you?" Saorise replied. "And remember, I'm human too. There's no need to be jealous of Ronan." Saoirse glanced at her brother. Oh, how different they were, it was hard to believe that they were related. Ciaran's dark brown hair contrasted with her pale blonde. Ciaran was tall, while she was short. Saorise was bright, loud and direct while Ciaran was always quiet and pensive. It was always hard to tell what Ciaran was thinking.

"But you're like…you know. Special." Ciaran quipped.

Saoirse's face lit up. "Oh yeah! That's right. Thanks for reminding me," she chirped happily as she reached into her bag. "Here, as requested."

Ciaran watched as his sister dropped a vial of blood into his hand.

"So, how far away are we from discovering what makes me immune to vampire bites, and stops me from being able to be transformed into one?" she inquired.

"Shhh!" Ciaran exclaimed in a whisper. "Don't talk about it so casually like that in such a public area! Who knows who could be listening?"

"Relax," Saorise replied, rolling her eyes. "It's only us two here right now. So, how is it going?"

"I'm making some progress. I think I might be onto something."

"Good. I really don't want to take out more blood. It makes me woozy."

"Well, I can't make any promises. But, I'll try. Thanks for the blood." Ciaran said as he placed a microscope onto the table and reached for a slide. "In fact, I'll start looking at it right now."

"Thanks, Ciar. You're the best!" Saorise squealed. "I think I'll take my leave now. Let you work in peace,"

"Yeah, okay," Ciaran mumbled, distracted, already looking through the microscope. "See you later."

Ciaran began scribbling down observations in the cryptic shorthand which only he could understand.

"Ha, does anyone ever come to me, without needing anything?" he muttered under his breath as he took another look into the microscope. "It's like I'm disposable". Ciaran had always felt alone. Abandoned by his mother, always in the shadow of his brother, Ronan, who was SO much better than him in every possible manner. The brother who ignored him in favour of his SO much cooler boyfriend Michael who had already been transformed into a vampire just mere months after meeting Ronan. _Stop it, stop being so jealous._ Ciaran forced himself to end his sarcastic stream of thought. Truth be told, he wanted to like Michael. Except that it was hard to like someone who always got what they wanted. Ciaran had desperately tried to stop all these negative thoughts but he didn't have anyone to talk to; he had no one to listen to him, to help him vent all his feelings out. He was stuck with bottling up all these feelings and internally monologuing to himself because that was all he ever had. Himself. Even when he was with his "friends" and family, he always felt out of place. Ciaran couldn't help but laugh at the irony. He was supposed to be the most normal one in the group. Maybe this loneliness was why it was so easy for David to manipulate him. _Look what you're doing, you've gotten side-tracked._ Ciaran shook his head in disapproval at his wandering mind, and resumed with examining Saorise's latest blood sample. He was so busy that he didn't notice David standing at the door, examining him.

David watched Ciaran, repeatedly gaze into the microscope's eye piece and scribbling something into his notebook. As pathetic as Ciaran was, being a human and all, he had to admire the boy's work ethic.

"That's nice." David said.

Ciaran's head jolted up in surprise at the sound, and as his eyes made sense of the headmaster leaning against the doorway, a shiver of fear ran down his body.

"Oh, don't let me stop you from working." David said, moving towards the boy.

Ciaran could feel the cold sweat forming onto his brow, and his heart rate increasing. _Act as calm as possible. Don't let him know how scared you are._

"So, what have you to report to me?" David demanded. "I'm sure you've made a discovery so far."

 _Come on Ciaran, you're not going to help him anymore. You can do this._ Ciaran looked David in the eye. "Nothing," he lied.

 _What a pathetic human. He thinks he can lie to me._ David observed the brilliant blue hue in the Ciaran's irises. _Such a pretty colour, but it gives everything away._

"Are you sure about that?" David said, more threat in his tone. In less than a blink of an eye, David used his supernatural speed to whip the notebook from the table, into his hand. He was surprised to see indecipherable symbols on the pieces of paper, something which he couldn't comprehend.

"What are you hiding from me?" David said, the volume of his voice growing. He was disorientated; not his usual calm and influential self. He had enough defiance for the day after dealing with Morgandy and he was certainly not going to let a boy, let alone a _human_ boy stand in his way.

"I'm not going to help you anymore." Ciaran stated nonchantly, attempting to hide his fear. He regretted his statement the moment the words slipped out of his mouth.

"What?!" David roared, knocking the microscope off the table and throwing the notebook into the corner. As loose sheets of paper flew around the air, a sinister idea formed into David's mind. An idea that was even better than the one he had been doing previously. David was astonished at how he hadn't thought about it earlier.

David felt his face transform, revealing his true vampiric form, and pounced at the boy. Ciaran, who had anticipated such attack, managed to dodge out of the way, just in time. Ciaran stumbled, and ran for the door, only to have the exit blocked by David, whose figure had appeared there from a blur, courtesy of his super speed. _Humans are just so pathetic and slow._

Ciaran slowly backed away from David. _Think Ciaran, think. There's got to be a way._ Fumbling along the table, Ciaran threw random objects at David. Beakers, measuring tubes, conical flasks, and other scientific paraphernalia all flew through the air. David dexterously dodged the makeshift projectiles with no effort. "You missed," he taunted, as the sound of glass shattering against walls resonated through the room. But during David's state of distraction, Ciaran had armed himself with a syringe. "That wasn't the point," Ciaran retorted as he stabbed it into one of David's eyes, the element of surprise on his side. David let out a guttural scream of pain, as Ciaran rushed for the door again. As he almost left the room, Ciaran felt a force onto his leg, pulling him back. The next moment, he felt himself fly through the air, crash onto the wall and land face down onto the floor. Sharps jabs of pain fired throughout his body and he felt his muscles ache. "You see Ciaran," David taunted, the syringe already out of his eye and on the floor, his eye supernaturally healed. "You're a human," he taunted, kicking the boy in the stomach to flip him around face up. Ciaran cried out in pain. "Humans are inherently weaker." David kicked Ciaran's face, eliciting another cry of pain. David bent down, his face closer to Ciaran's. "Maybe your brother should have paid more attention. I am going to find the Well and destroy it, along with the rest of his despicable, impure kind." David crawled on top of Ciaran and used his arms and knees to pin down the boy. Ciaran winced as he felt pressure on his already forming bruises, and struggled against David's body weight, but to no avail. _Ha, still fighting. How pathetic._ "If only your brother paid more attention to you, because whether you like it or not, you're going to help me find the Well's location". As David let out an evil laugh, Ciaran stared at him, his eyes still defiant. David twisted Ciaran's head, exposing the boy's neck. He felt his mouth water as he heard the boy's pulse and the smell was irresistible. Ciaran screamed as he felt David's fangs enter his neck. The pain was excruciating like needles being stabbed into his flesh. It was sharp and piercing, extreme, like no other he had ever experienced. He felt waves of heat throb throughout his body as his blood was sucked out of his body. He struggled, and wriggled, and squirmed pointlessly. He could feel himself get weaker, and weaker, and weaker as his vision blurred and everything faded away into blackness.

David stood up, and looked at the unconscious boy, spread eagled across the floor, blood still pooling around his neck. That same blood was still dripping down from David's mouth, and he licked it up using his tongue. _That was amazingly delicious. The best I've ever tasted, in my entire life._ It had taken him a massive amount of self-control to pull back before he had drank too much. Ciaran was perfect for food, but he would serve a greater purpose. David chuckled to himself at his ingenuity. What better leverage to use against a vampire than his weak, human brother? It was so simple and so easy. Again, David wondered why he hadn't thought of it earlier. Gingerly, David picked up Ciaran's limp body and placed him onto his shoulder.

He super sped out of the room, with his newly acquired hostage.


	2. Chapter 2

"It's definitely an infinitive." Ronan said, as he looked over Michael's shoulder.

"Yes, I know that already," Michael replied, as he scrutinised the words on the textbook, "But I'm still not sure about what the order should be."

Ronan paused for a second in deep thought. "Hmmm…what about Horatia potest parare cenam?"

Michael chuckled, "Well, at least you got the cases right for the words. Which itself is an achievement. You know, with all the nominative, accusative, ablative cases and whatever," Michael mumbled off shyly, looking down as he blushed. "But your order is the one used in English and I'm fairly certain it's not right. I'm pretty sure the verb should be at the end of the sentence."

Ronan was only half listening as he was studying Michael's face as he talked. _Gosh, he's so cute when he's rambling on._

"Well, I don't know why you're so dedicated to Latin," Ronan teased jokingly.

"Weren't you the one who was lecturing me on how it's still important to learn and acquire knowledge even though I'm a vampire now?" Michael replied, a smirk forming onto his face, "And there's no need to be jealous, I'm more dedicated to you."

Michael leapt from the chair and gave Ronan a kiss. Ronan was surprised at the bold, unexpected gesture but quickly softened into Michael's embrace, as he ran his fingers through Michael's pale blonde hair. _Gosh. I am the luckiest guy on this planet._ Michael gazed into Ronan's eyes, and then gave him another kiss, which Ronan returned. They continued until Michael pulled away suddenly.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot! We have swim team training!"

Ronan's face filled with panic. "How could we have forgotten?!" he exclaimed, "Blakely's gonna kill us!"

Michael glanced at the clock. "Looks like we have a minute."

Ronan peered out the window. "Well luckily for us, no one's outside right now, so we can, you know…" Ronan trailed off with a wink.

Michael nodded and supersped out the door. Ronan was quick to follow.

They reached St. Sebastian's within a few seconds. "Phew," Michael breathed, grinning at Ronan as he entered the building.

Most of the other members of the team were already there: Fritz, Alexei, and Diego. Michael and Ronan took their usual spots, just before Morgandy walked through the door. Immediately the air grew thick with tension as Ronan caught sight of his ex-boyfriend. Michael's could hear Ronan almost imperceptibly growl, and placed a hand on his shoulder. _"Relax"_ he called out telepathically. " _Remember that the Well wiped his memory. He doesn't remember anything about the past you shared, so don't cause a scene."_

The response came back a few seconds later. _"I know, love. But that doesn't make his betrayal any less painful"._

"What are you guys all doing there sitting on your lazy backsides!" Blakely bellowed. No one had noticed him entering. "If you want to win the National Swim Team Competition then you better work for it! Alexei! Diego! Start doing laps! I have a quick thing I have to attend to before I can focus on you three" he said, eyeing the remaining three boys. And with that comment, he left as abruptly as he had arrived.

Michael rested his head on Ronan's shoulder.

" _Man, I love swimming but sometimes the stench of chlorine is so hard to bear. Especially since we're vampires with supernatural senses of smell."_ Michael said telepathically.

Ronan tried hard not to chuckle at the comment. _"I agree. I much prefer swimming in the ocean with its magnificent salty, yet fresh smell. The same beautiful scent which lingers in the air when we're together on_ _Inishtrahull_ _ _Island."__

 _"_ _ _Awww, Ro! So romantic!"__ Michael looked Ronan in the eye.

"Can't we talk normally?" he whispered out loud, "I want to hear the sound of your voice."

"Anything you want, love" Ronan replied. They watched as Alexei and Diego completed another lap of the pool and tumble-turned to start their next one.

"Ugh, for now we'll have to put up with the stench of chlorine," Michael complained as he turned his head back to face his boyfriend. "Ciaran would probably valiantly defend it, and talk about how the chlorine breaks down into many different chemicals like hypochlorous acid which kill microorganisms and bacteria by attacking the lipids in their cell walls or something like that, being the scientist that he is!" Michael burst out laughing at his own joke and when he finally looked up after wiping the joyful tears out of his eyes, he was surprised to see that Ronan was not. In fact, it looked like he had seen a ghost.

"What's wrong?" Michael asked, suddenly anxious.

"Ciaran. Where is he?"

Michael looked around and realised that Ciaran, who was also part of the swim team, was nowhere in sight. He couldn't help but feel a little guilty that he hadn't even noticed his friend's absence until Ronan had pointed it out.

"Relax, Ronan," he finally said, "he probably has some science thing going on right now. He's a good boy. He wouldn't miss out training unless he had a valid reason."

"You really think so?"

"Yes." Michael gave Ronan a hug to comfort him.

"Okay I'm back!" Blakely's voice boomed through the air.

Elsewhere, Saorise was bored. She had read through all of the magazines in her room, tied (and untied!) her hair in all the different braids she knew until she found the one which suited her mood (Dutch braid it is then!), and even organised her wardrobe (which was when she finally realised how bored she was if she was doing a task which she loathed so much!).

"Ugh. Why does Ciaran have to take so long?" she moaned to herself as she stared at the ceiling on her bed. "You know what? I'm done waiting. I'm going to check up on how he's doing."

As she walked to towards St Albert's, she caught sight of Morgandy through the windows of the gymnasium. It was strange to think that only a few weeks ago she had looked upon that face with such tender but naïve love and desire. Now it only served as an indelible reminder of the deception which she had faced. _Can't believe he lied to me all this time. Can't believe that he's one of Them._

Wind flew through Saorise's hair as she opened the door to St Albert's. "Ciaran! You better be done!" she jokingly threatened. She began making her way to the laboratory section. "Ciaran?" she called out again. Silence. "Ciaran, if you think that it's funny to…" The syllable died in her throat as she froze at sight of the chaotic scene which lay before her. The whole room was completely trashed. Microscopes lay on the ground, loose sheets of paper were spread out in haphazard positions, and shards of glass from broken scientific instruments were scattered around the area. But what caught her attention was the bright scarlet, viscous pool of blood on the floor, still fresh and a by-product of whatever event had transpired. The sight of the blood horrified her to her core and a pit of apprehension formed in her stomach as the obvious question formed in her mind. What on earth had happened here? And worse still, where was Ciaran?


	3. Chapter 3

"I'm telling you, he's missing!" Saorise exclaimed.

"We know that," Ronan replied, pacing nervously around the room. He had already been feeling apprehensive and his sister's sudden appearance at his dormitory room only added towards the growing feeling.

"When was the last time you said you saw him?" Michael asked. Ciaran was his friend so obviously he was worried as well, but it was seeing Ronan in distress which really was the heart of his motivation.

"St. Albert, today." Saorise answered, voice quivering. _If anything had happened to Ciaran…_

"We have to tell mum," Ronan stated. When no one replied, he glanced up. Saorise looked as if someone had just splashed ice cold water on her face.

"What, are you crazy?!" she exclaimed.

"Why not?"

"Oh yeah, that's right, you're _Ronan_ ," Saorise snapped, voice full of venom, putting particular emphasis on her brother's name, "The lucky one. The favourite child. Mum's perfect little baby. You wouldn't understand!"

"How does that even have anything to do with the current issue on hand?!" Ronan snarled back, voice rising.

"Do you even have any idea how Ciaran feels? How we both feel about the way mum treats us?"

"Excuse me?!"

"Mum wouldn't give a second thought about Ciaran. She wouldn't even notice his disappearance because she never even acknowledges his existence!"

"So what are we supposed to do?!"

"I don't know. You tell me. After all, you're the favourite."

"Seriously, I don't get what your problem is!"

"Maybe you should stop being so self-centred and look beyond yourself and realise that mum is a horrible person at her job! But instead, since she treats you better than the rest of us, you turn a blind eye on our suffering!"

"Guys! Stop fighting!" Michael interrupted, deciding that the argument between the two siblings had escalated too far. "None of this will help us find Ciaran!"

"But maybe this will," Ronan said, his voice soft again. He walked towards the door and picked up the note which had suddenly been slid through the gap.

"What does it say?" Saorise asked, opening the door to attempt to catch a glimpse of whoever had delivered the enigmatic note. She stuck her head back into the room with disappointment after she saw no one. "I said, what does it say?" Saorise repeated in annoyance, "What are you deaf or something…" She froze as she caught sight of her brother. Ronan's face was contorted with fear and anguish, his eyes wide in horror. Saorise snatched the note out of his hands. Ronan didn't react, his hands stayed frozen in the position they were in.

"Let's hope it's from Ciaran saying that it was just a practical joke he pulled on us!" Saorise chuckled lightly, attempting to lighten the dark mood which had befallen on both Ronan and Michael, and gave a weak smile in their direction. A smile which immediately was wiped off as she read the neat handwriting on the note.

 _If you ever want to see your brother alive again, then take me to the Well._

 _David_


	4. Chapter 4

Light slowly seeped through Ciaran's eyelids as he regained consciousness. His head throbbed and he felt all groggy. ' _Where am I?'_ he thought to himself as he opened his eyes. He blinked to clear away the blurriness and came to realise that he was facing a stone grey ceiling. He suddenly became aware that he was lying on the floor; the hard concrete sent waves of coldness through the back of his shirt. Ciaran groaned as he shifted onto his side – his whole body ached like he had been sleeping in an awkward position and his neck felt weird. Ciaran stood up but the sudden change of position made him nauseously disorientated and he slumped down back on the floor in his sudden fit of light-headedness. ' _Ugh, orthostatic hypotension'_ he diagnosed to himself. He waited until his head cleared up and then gingerly stood up again. He glanced around at the unfamiliar environment. He was in an empty room with no furniture or windows. The walls, ceiling and floor were all grey with the exception of the single door which was wooden. He ran towards it and grabbed the handle, only to find the door locked. After a few futile attempts of trying to force the door open, Ciaran slumped down, his back against the wall, as he sighed in hopelessness. He ran his fingers through his hair and touched his neck. It was covered with dried blood and a low ache throbbed from it. Memories of his encounter with David flashed before his eyes as he was reminded of how he came to receive such wound and the boy shivered unconsciously. ' _What does he want from me?'_ he wondered as he crawled around the room searching for anything that could help his escape. He rested his head against a wall after he found nothing. There was nothing in the room except for himself.

Suddenly the door flung open loudly. Ciaran's heart jumped at the unexpected surprise and saw he was suddenly face to face with his captor.

"Hello Ciaran", David said in a low voice with a smirk on his face. Ciaran was frozen in shock as David glanced at the human whose blue eyes stood out even further in the all-grey environment. ' _Such a pretty colour,'_ David thought once again to himself. _'What a surprise that no one pays him that much attention.'_ He leaned until he was a breath away from the boy and Ciaran's tantalising scent filled his nostrils. He sniffed in the delicious smell which the boy emitted - a scent unrivalled in all his years as a vampire. Never had he smelt anything so tempting, so enticing, and so exquisite. How did the boy's irresistible blood escape the attention of the vampires which he often hung around, particularly his own brother Ronan? That was beyond David's comprehension. He remembered the mouth-watering sweet taste of Ciaran's blood and he felt his face transform to reveal his vampiric features. Ciaran had backed away in fear during David's moment of thoughts but now he was trapped in a corner. He could hear the boy's pulse – a beacon almost taunting him to drink the boy's blood. All he wanted was a sip. A tiny dash of blood. What harm could that do? He imagined his fangs once again penetrating that soft skin and the luscious crimson liquid that would pour out. All he had to do was… _Stop it!_ David urged in his mind. _Now is not the time to lose control. You need the boy alive._ Annoyed, David backed away from Ciaran. The human looked surprised. He had been mentally preparing for another attack at his neck.

"What do you want, David?" Ciaran demanded, trying to hide his fear as best as he could.

"You know what I want. Your brother's precious well destroyed."

Ciaran glared at him as David smirked.

"You're the perfect hostage. How could I have not thought of this earlier? You're Ronan's brother and a human as well; it's like you were born for this."

Ciaran looked down, in hopelessness.

"Oh and don't try to escape. You're smart enough to know that any attempt will only result in failure."

David rustled the boy's brown hair and almost felt an inkling of pity for him.

"Oh Ciaran, don't worry. It'll all be over soon," David taunted as he turned to leave the room. "That stupid well will be destroyed before you know it." He began walking towards the door when caught another whiff of the boy's enticing, tantalising scent and David froze. "You know what?" he said as he turned to face the boy again. "Screw self-control."

In less than a blink of an eye, David was once again centimetres away from Ciaran and this time he sunk his fangs into the boy's neck. Ciaran's screams resonated around the room as he felt the all-too-familiar agonising pain once again. David drank the warm blood with glee as Ciaran continued to scream and struggle to no avail. If David thought that Ciaran's smell was irresistible, then the boy's blood was beyond compare. There were no words which he could use to describe how delicious it was; its taste was ineffable. Out of nowhere, David suddenly stopped and let the boy drop on the floor who landed with a soft thud. He still needed him alive after all. Disappointed that he had to stop, David bit at his own wrist and poured a bit of his own blood into the human's mouth. He watched as the freshly formed wounds on Ciaran's neck healed and kneeled down towards the unconscious boy. Satisfied after hearing the boy's shallow breaths, he got up and left the room. He closed and locked the door behind him, leaving Ciaran spread-eagled on the cold, concrete floor.


End file.
